AC: Pocket Camp Had a Bigger Launch Than Pokemon GO

By Jasmine Henry 02 January 2018

Earlier this month Nintendo releasedAnimal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which allows players to design their own campsites and make some new friends. After the game suffered multiple delays during development, fans are ecstatic to finally be able to play the game, but just how many people are playing exactly?

Early estimates from Sensor Tower suggest that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is doing phenomenally well. The game has been downloaded at least 15 million times in six days across iOS and Android devices, making it the second biggest Nintendo mobile game launch. Super Mario Run is the Nintendo mobile game with the biggest launch so far, as it got 32 million installs in six days when it launched last December.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp easily beat Fire Emblem Heroes, which racked up six million downloads when it launched in February this year. The Animal Crossing mobile game also managed to beat out Niantic’s Pokemon GO, which was downloaded 6.8 million times when it launched last summer.

While Pokemon GO had limited availability (it was only available in the United States, New Zealand and Australia) at launch and AC: Pocket Camp is available worldwide, the performance of the new game is impressive nonetheless.

The Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp player base may soon grow even more, though, as Nintendo is planning a major holiday-themed update for the game. That update is reportedly going to add brand new villagers to meet as well as new items to collect and craft. The dash of festive spirit should give mobile gamers another reason to take a look at the game even if they overlooked it during launch.

Nintendo can also appeal to Animal Crossing fans even more once they address some key issues with the game. As highlighted by supermodel and avid Animal Crossing fan Chrissy Teigen during a recent Twitter rant, the mobile spin-off doesn’t quite feel like the main series. Teigen argued that the mobile game lacks the series’ charm. If Nintendo is able to address those bigger issues, then diehard AC fans unconvinced by the mobile spin-off may reconsider.

Nintendo will also be watching to see if its new game can be a financial success as well. As the poor financial performance of Super Mario Run shows, popularity does not always equal financial success. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp does have microtransactions but right now it’s unclear how many of those 15 million players will actually purchase them.